Fined for hiring too many people? No, this is not Atlas Shrugged.

This sounds like a ficticious example out of an Ayn Rand novel. It’s a sad state of affairs when fact and fiction are no longer distinguishable. We caught wind of this video via MRC TV earlier today. Watch this clip from Peter Schiff, CEO of Euro Pacific Capital.

 

That’s right. Fined $15,000 for hiring too much because it didn’t fit with regulations. An entire department created to continue to stay within the legal guidelines.

“In my own business, securities regulations have prohibited me from hiring brokers for more than three years. I was even fined fifteen thousand dollar expressly for hiring too many brokers in 2008. In the process I incurred more than $500,000 in legal bills to mitigate a more severe regulatory outcome as a result of hiring too many workers. I have also been prohibited from opening up additional offices. I had a major expansion plan that would have resulted in my creating hundreds of additional jobs. Regulations have forced me to put those jobs on hold.”

This is what crushing regulations do to job creators. Small businesses cannot absorb these costs like larger corporations can; they are forced to close their doors.

Read the rest of the testimony at Forbes. You can watch the rest here